Obituary of FATHER BENET W CAFFREY

St. Mary's Abbey announces with sorrow the passing of Father Benet (William) Caffrey, O.S.B. on April 9, 2018, in his 66th year of monastic profession and 60th of ordination. William Caffrey was born on June 18, 1931 in Newark, New Jersey to Lucille Trumbauer and William Edward Caffrey. He attended grammar school at Our Lady of Good Counsel and high school at St. Benedict's Preparatory School. He then entered St. Vincent College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1954. His postgraduate work began at St. Mary's School of Theology, where he completed his studies in 1958. He took further postgraduate classes in Latin at Notre Dame in the summers from 1955-1957. He then enrolled at Columbia University, receiving Masters in Library Science in 1959. Benet made his solemn profession as a Benedictine Monk of St. Mary's Abbey in Newark on September 17, 1955. He was ordained to the priesthood at St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Paterson on May 31, 1958. His first Mass was at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Newark on June 8, 1958. Father Benet was a librarian at St. Benedict's Prep for two years, and a librarian at Delbarton School—where he also taught history, Spanish, and Latin—for almost 20 years. He began the Freshman Orientation Program in 1964, later creating the Freshman Directory "New Wave" in 1980. He served as the St. Mary's Abbey archivist since 2003 and Delbarton School archivist since 2006. Fr Benet was very proud to have completed the "Camino de Santiago" from Somport in Aragon to Compostela in Spain in 2003. He was a gifted writer and homilist who continued to offer mass at the abbey and at St. Mary's Wharton, St Bernard's Bridgewater, St Bridget and St Elizabeth in Gladstone - Peapack and Far Hills. Most recently he served at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Bernardsville, even as he suffered the effects of macular degeneration and cancer which left him nearly blind. He will be remembered at St. Mary's Abbey and Delbarton School for his dedication, work ethic, and friendly, optimistic nature. The community will celebrate a Requiem Mass on Thursday 12 April at 5:15 pm. Fr Benet's confreres will receive his body at the Abbey Church on Friday, April 13th at 4:00 pm. There will be a viewing until 5:00 pm and 6:30 - 9:00 pm. Mass will be celebrated at 5:15 p.m., with the Office of the Dead at 7:00 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday 14 April, 2018 at 10:00 a.m., with interment at St. Mary's Abbey Cemetery. A repast will follow in the Estabrook Dining Room. In lieu of flowers, please send memorial gifts in honor of Fr Benet to the St. Mary's Abbey Infirmary Fund.